Safe and sound

I wrote last week that that my oldest son was coming home after spending a year in East Asia.  If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you saw as I progressed through the day that he was traveling.  Thank you so much for those who prayed for his safety!

Here is Will at the airport, along with his dad and brothers.  Will is average height (about 5'8"-5'9"), but he's the only average-height guy in the family.

Will posted this on Instagram that night:

Anxiously awaiting our arrival at home was Snickers, Will's 11-year-old beagle.  Snickers was Will's 12th birthday present, all those years ago.  Although it was very late at night when Will arrived, Snickers greeted him at the door.

Will's brothers had taken good care of Snickers while he was gone, but there's nothing like the bond between a boy and his dog.

 

What I haven't shared yet, simply because it's been so raw, is how anxious I felt while Will was traveling.  Just a couple of days before Will left Asia, college friends of ours were traveling with their children to a family wedding.  They were involved in a horrific highway accident.  The mom (age 50) and two oldest children (age 22 and 19) were killed instantly; the dad and youngest child are still hospitalized.

My heart is broken at the death of my friend. She was a delightful Christian woman. I've been married 29 years, and I still have a bridal shower gift she made for me. The world is a much poorer place for her absence. But my heart is especially broken as I think of her husband and surviving son. In an instant, their lives were forever altered.

So as Will prepared to travel home from Asia, I found myself worrying much more than usual.  But on the day that he was boarding the plane, I read these words in my daily devotional book:

Jesus says, "You gain confidence through knowing that I am with you--that you face nothing alone.  Anxiety stems from asking the wrong question: 'If such and such happens, can I handle it?'  The true question is not whether you can cope with whatever happens, but whether you and I together can handle anything that occurs.  It is this you-and-I-together factor that gives you confidence to face the day cheerfully" (Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, June 29 entry).

Obviously Will made it home safely.  I must say that I was all the more thankful for having not taken his safe travel for granted. 

Right now I'm clinging to the knowledge that the Lord is with my friend and his son, that the "you-and-I-together factor" that Jesus promises will sustain them in a time of unspeakable grief.  Would you join me in praying for them?

And then you may want to thank God for your loved ones--and give them an extra hug.

I'm joining:

Thought-Provoking Thursday at 3-D Lessons for Life 

Thoughtful Thursday at Eat Sleep Be

Fellowship Friday at Christian Mommy Blogger

Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now